is the English way"…  says Pink Floyd in the iconic song “Time”.


Well maybe not if former British MP Chris Ruane’s vision for Britain becomes a reality.


As I mentioned in a previous post, I attended the Mindful Leadership Forum last week here in Sydney. One of the speakers I found particularly inspiring was Chris Ruane. (Actually it was more of an interview format with Jono Fisher, Founder of the Wake-up Project). Chris was a MP in the British parliament for about 18 years.
Chris began his foray into mindfulness while helping his daughter with a school project on Buddhism. He started practicing some of the techniques he read about and then began sharing the benefits with his fellow MP’s. From small things big things grow.
Today over 100 MP’s are trained and are practicing mindfulness and it is being rolled out to the 2000 staff in parliament. From there too the Mindfulness All-Party Parliamentary Group began. The research and inquiry undertaken by this group has led to the Mindful Nation UK report. The interim reports states in the first 2 lines of executive summary:
“The Mindfulness All-Party Parliamentary Group has carried out an eight-month inquiry into the potential for mindfulness training in key areas of public life - health, education, workplaces and the criminal justice system. We find that mindfulness is a transformative practice, leading to a deeper understanding of how to respond to situations wisely.” It goes on to outline some high level recommendations for the implementation in those sectors.
The two specifics that Chris mentioned in the interview was the training of teachers in mindfulness (there is a lot of burn out and drop out in the teaching profession). Mindfulness would not only better equip the teachers for their demanding roles as educators but they are in a perfect position to teach mindfulness to the next generation. What a point of impact on a society!!!
The other one he mentioned was training doctors not only as a means to inoculate doctors from stressful workloads but also as a means to encourage mindfulness as a ‘prescription” for anxiety and depression. The rate of depression and anxiety related health issues have been growing at frightening rates in the UK (as I am sure is reflected here in Australia). The research has been conclusive that mindfulness can be very effective in the treatment for anxiety and depression. No drugs needed in many instances (sorry big Pharma).
Already in place is the ability for doctors to recommend mindfulness based stress reduction programs in place of medication and the cost of the course will be covered by the NHS. But there has been a low uptake of this option to date.
The full  report will be tabled in the UK parliament next month on Oct 20.
This week Chris is in Canberra meeting with various politicians for discussion on mindfulness and public policy.
I was practically levitating from my seat with a sense of hope and possibility. And I do hope Chris finds some political ears that will listen and too see the possibility
My personal practice of mindfulness has led me to experience greater empathy and compassion for my fellow humans. And without a doubt Canberra sure could use more of that!!!
If you want a little hope in your day..check out this short little video from Chris talking about this journey…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AcAaUIRpzE

I attended the Mindful Leadership Conference last week presented by the wonderful people from the Wake –Up project in Sydney. The event was jammed packed with inspiring and thought-provoking speakers. One of the speakers Golbie Kamarei, shared her story of how what started as a conversation around the water cooler about her personal experiences with mindfulness and yoga led to a mindfulness program that reached 1500 employees across 17 countries. The organization she works for is BlackRock one of the worlds largest asset management firms and maybe one of the last places you would expect people to embrace mindfulness.

Mostly what I loved about her talk was how the simple act of her generously contributing her time and sharing her knowledge turned into a far reaching program that has contributed to improving the well-being and performance of so many of her colleagues.
The other thing I loved was a challenge she proposed through a simple question:
What is one thing you can do to be more transparent, more authentic or more human at work today?
-Share a fear or worry you have?
-Be more transparent about the challenges you are facing at home or work?
-Admit a mistake you made or that you do not know the answer?

How human and authentic of you!!!  and thank you...

A theme that came throughout the 2 days was this notion of how many workplaces are environments that are fear-based and overly competitive. That people are viewed only as their roles not as human beings and the need to wear the mask of that role (ever infallible, strong and perfect) is exhausting.

Another speaker, Samantha Payne, from Westpac shared a similar story of how she took responsibility to create her own culture around her; one that was supportive, transparent and balanced. Instead of just complaining about the toxic work environment she took action and began to share and integrate some of her personal mindfulness practices with her team. In a small way she has begun to create a kinder and happier workplace for her own team. I suspect this is just the beginning of the story for Samantha and Westpac.

Samantha also issued a challenge that because culture is personal and every person contributes to it why not disrupt it? Just like the disruption we have seen in the longstanding taxi and hotel industries to make them better; why not disrupt your workplace or even your life? How can you disrupt things to make it better? You might even be amazed at the ripple effect it could have.